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Topic: Dark Nights (Read 22661 times)

"Sorry Honey, i have some drinks of my own. But just for your information, the high elves are the reason that the place is in lockdown. There have been some rumors about some intelligence leaking out of Pelan by way of an Elven spy." Came Serraph from his hooded robe on the stool next to Callista. "Here is the deal, if your little friend is back in good condition, then he will probably expect us to go out during nightfall while it is still dark out. We leave in the morning, and both of you are going to need to change those stupid clothes of yours. You can get them in my house while you rest there for the night, because im not taking you if you are anouncing to the world that you are going to spend the night here. The front door is unlocked, so come in whenever you want to, but don't go messin up the place, everything is just how i like it."

Callista turned sharply towards serraph "What is wrong with my clothes" she said standing up and flaring the bottom up like a tent, "i don't think it is that bad, it is rather tight though" she said, trying to look down at her own bum, "does it look really that bad" she said again in a softer tone but this time to Lucanus, "please tell me the truth"she turned around, as if modeling for a picture and awaited his answer

"Because you look like an elf. Howabout you stop thinking about you'r figure and start thinking about your survival" he said in a scolding tone. Honestly how did she think that this dark mage kept finding her. She looked like an elf and that bow of hers did not help that much. Serraph was a personal fan of not dying.

"We leave early tomorrow. I suggest you go to sleep now instead of getting drunk. It isn't that becoming of a high elf you know" he said semi mockingly. "Don't stick around in here much longer, i want you inside Pelan without incident."

With that, Seraph left. He still had some things to prepare before tomarrow, so he did not go straight to the house. He also needed some more information on that dark mage, but that might be a little more elusive, even with Serraphs contacts.

Callista turned to watch serraph leave, and turned back to Lucanus, "he has a real cheek he has, but i suppose he is right" she sighed, she hated to admit that he was right, of all the pepole who could be right it had to be him, she ran her fingers through her ebony black hair and sighed, "well have you got anywhere to sleep?" she asked Lucanus, "if not i could give up my bed, and um find somewhere else" she looked at him, as if hoping he would take her room, she awaited his answer

"Yes, he's a little odd though, did you notice how he went from bargaining theif to almost looking out for us? I don't think he is just a thief." Leaning a little closer Luke murmured, "Just between you and me the dress makes you look hot little thing, it's a shame he's right but you know what I don't think I care that much. I mean that black mage he came after you when you were tired and exhausted and alone. If he had any real strength he'd face you on even footing."

Luke took another pull of the grog before setting it down for good. Looking at Callista with smile that had a little slyness to it. He spoke, "I'm a wanderer mostly and this is my first night here. It is very kind of you to offer such hospitality, I would be glad to accompany you." Luke got up and offered Callista his arm.

OOC: Ok, i really do need to know what "Upstairs" means. Right now i believe that you are in an inn. So upstairs in the traditional sense means going upstairs into the inn by getting and paying for a room, where Callista, you will probably find that you are not welcome to continue wrecking the place as the property manager is most likely under that current impression.

If you mean going inside the abandoned house and upstairs to a bedroom, then i will just tell you now that the front door is unlocked, the bottom floor looks very much like a haunted house with dust and spiderwebs and a general eerie feel everywhere. The second floor will look the same except for a closed door, which was clearly never used and looks to have been recently unlocked, which is now (could you have already guessed?) unlocked. That will lead to a whole second half of the second floor which is dramatically different from the first half. It is obviously in constant use and you would find a single hammock set up in one room and one set up in another. Each will contain a dresser with a change of grungie rags in them that look nothing like what you would normally wear. You can make up anything you want about the rest of the second floor.

There is a single door which leads to the third floor. It is made of a thick sturdy wood and is securely locked and bolted shut from the inside. In fact, there is no way to open it from the outside which suggests that somebody is currently up there right now, or that there is another way in (both are just as likely).

Still OOC: So that goes for whichever action you wish to take. Of course that is not to say that you cannot stay out, but it is to give aid for either of those actions. However it is very important that i know which if either, you are taking, as it does change what my character will do.

Oh yes, one last thing, there is a small spot on the wall where the wood looks like it has literally been melted away on the first floor. It is directly across from a knife shaped hole in the outer wall.

IC: Meanwhile, Serraph was doing some research. Unfortunately there was very little information on this dark Mage. However there were some useful pieces of information on the girl and the monk which Serraph would hold onto for a later time.

His other venture involved a forgery which he needed to pay for and also some clothes which he needed quickly. It was not needed to be exceptionally skilled forgery, so it only cost him twelve silver, but it did cost him some money.

The clothes were not of particularily fine quality either, but they were particular. They cost him an additional ten Silver pieces. They would have been cheap, except that they needed to be done in the dead of night under complete secrecy, no questions asked, and that was always worth a few extra silver.

No matter, it was better than taking chances. Especially with a mage. Serraph didn't like mages. He despised them. Mages were mortal enemies to him and he liked to take every precaution when one of them were involved.

It all depended on how competent he was. The problem with mages is that they could adapt to any manner of situations. It was very annoying. And Serraph doubted that this one had any sort of foolish honor system that he would abide by. That might give him an advantage over the monk, but it would only put him on even ground with Serraph. It was one of his key rules. Never fight for honor, fight to win.

And had Serraph been after her, she would probably be dead right now. Not that she was not competant, but she was naive. She did not watch her surroundings, nor did she bargain or negotiate. She was honest. Not like the monk, who, at heart, Serraph figured to be almost as dark as himself (just more deceptive about it). Serraph would have taken her apart, simply because she would have never seen him coming.

But he was not dealing with another like himself. There was a good chance that he could expect almost every trick in the book to actually work, and work well.

He would have to be cautious first, just to be sure. Never underestimate your enemy, nor overestimate him. And as long as he travelled with this girl, there was no doubt that this person was his enemy. This Dark mage may be after the elf, but he would no doubt kill Serraph without a second thought if he saw him as preventing him from getting the girl, which Serraph was, in effect, doing....

OOC: I guess to avoid getting this thread locked let's just say we paid for the room and it is the next morning. Ok with you all?

Lucanus sat in the not so comfortable sipping on the dregs of some tea. It went down with ease, he gulped the rest down and went out the front door. The inn was relatively nice a small patch of garden was surronded by hedges and even a couple of flowers.

He went through a series of simple stretches and settled onto his knees, with his arms on his hips. He sank into a meditative trance, he focused energizing himself for the day, and healing any traces of the grog from the night before. Then he haf a flicker of something, as if he was being watched but not phyiscally more in the astro plain than in the world around him.

Lucanus sought out the watcher but as soon as he began to probe back it fainted away with out a trace. Still looking troubled Lucanus went back into the inn.

OOC: Um yeah, well actually it kinda is a problem at the moment. The thing is that

a: My character was going to get some information on the dark mage from the girl during the night.

B: if we are going to jump into morning, i need to be the first person to post. I am the only character who has made preparations for departure, and so i kinda do need to lead off with the first post.

Im not trying to be a prick here, but i had expected you to actually post about going to bed before deeming it morning.

So basically, Callista, my character is going to ask yours for information during the night, after both you and the monk have already gone to sleep. He is pretty much going to ask you about everything (everything) you know about him.

So if you could give that post to me, i can jump into my day preparations.

Oh right, and one last thing. You guys should not know that my character is a rat-man. The only two times you saw him were when he was heavily veiled in smoke, and when he was covered head to foot in a cloak. All that you guys should be aware of at this moment, is that he is short.

Callista had awoken early in the morning and had walked over to the house where serraph was "uh serraph? where are you?" she called, as she climbed the dusty stairs, "um you said you had some clothes for me to wear, for the travel?" she called as she walked along the hall "HEY RATMAN" she shouted, getting a bit annoyed he was either not there and had made a runner the night before or he was ignoring her, moved to the end of the hall and tried to open the thick door but it was locked, she moved along the hall once again opening each door as she went along she finally got to a room with a hamack hanging in one corner and a chest of drawers in the other, she walked over to the chest of drawers and pulled out a raggy set of clothes, they werent that bad actully, she slipped the clothes on and looked down, "well maybe if i make some adjustments" she thought to herself, she pulled a small dagger, from her thigh holster, and started to cut at the clothes, at that moment she was in her under garments, so it would be rather embarrising if someone walked in at that time, once she had finished she had a pair of shorts, which went up to the bottom of her thigh, and a tight top which lifted her bust up quite a lot, she also pulled her black cloack to her and started to sew sleeves onto the sides, to make a long black coat, she smiled as she looked down at her handi work, she placed the clothes on her bed and started searching the room in her underclothes

Serraph had not fathomed the stupidity of the two. How could they really be that stupid. Serraphs head hurt.

They stayed in the hotel. They stayed in the hotel. Why not announce to the world. Unless this fellow expected that it was a diversion and went after serraphs real diversion, a girl dressed in callista's previous garb who had left late last night. Maybe the man wasn't watching the hotel at all.

That did not change the fact that those two were complete idiots.

Fine, so be it. He would not overestimate them again.

Then he heard a voice yelling at the top of its lungs "Hey Rat-Man".

He had already overestimated them again. As he watched from behind a single sided mirror, he saw her change her clothes into a light garnment, and no doubt despite her efforts, it still had that elven touch to it. Great, she looked like an elf again. Figured she would customize them.

Serraphs heart sank. He did not have any clue how he could get them there without incedent.

He could not. It was that simple. If they were really that determined to be as conspicuous as possible, then there was nothing he could do to get them to Pelan unharmed.

He thought of drugging them and having them shipped to Pelan. That would get them in without the patch. And once they were found and arrested, it would be a simple matter of getting them out of the jail.

Come to think of it, he did not even have to drug the monk. Just the girl. He had never bartered to get the monk into Pelan. Just the girl. The girl who was right now looking rediculous as she searched the room in her underclothes. Again, he had overestimated her.

It would be very humerous to throw a couple of choking gas bombs in right now and have her run out in almost nothing. Even more nothing because it was elven. But alas, there was work to be done, and if she really was in good connection with the high elves in Pelan, then this would be a very valuable connection in the long run, on the other hand, in the short run, it was looking more and more like suicide.

What was she searching for. No doubt some cloth, or maybe even a secret entrance. He had seen enough.

He went around, back upstairs, and got some more clothes out. Then going down a secret wall, and through a concealed door, he came to the hallway that led to her room.

"You know, the purpose of wearing those was so that you don't look like an elf" he said as he threw a new pair of garnments onto the bed and took the old cut up ones (as well as the originals). "Now put those on before somebody else comes in and thinks that we are invloved. My reputation would never survive such a thing. And hurry, we must get going now. Your monk lover is out broadcasting to the world that we are still in town, and we should get going while he is still here doing so...unless you want to have to kill this mage all over again, in which case, enjoy, that isn't my job. Now follow me when you are dressed and ready, i will be waiting outside."

With that, Serraph left. He did not wait for a response before leaving. He liked having a certain finality when he spoke, and he definately needed to get his message across to her before she got herself killed.

This was why he always worked alone. And it was alone he stood, a five-foot nine old man with a hunched back, right outside the door to the house, not doing much of anything except looking around. Almost as if he was waiting for somebody.

Lucanus had nothing really of value but he thought he'd check out the local town anyways. His clothes were nothing special. He wore mocusins and leggings, pants tucked into the leggings, a simple shirt, and a light jacket that was easy to fight in and traveled well. It was a simple dust color that was worn with time and common among many villages of the desert region to the south of here. If that rat faced little man wanted him to change he didn't know why plenty of people were wearing the same clothes as him.

Lucanus was almost certain Serraph would sell them out the first chance he would get, he simply waiting for enough money to show up. Lucanus bought a cheap cloak that was a dark earthy brown anyways. It was light and easy to throw off if a fight presented it self. He didn't carry any weapons to speak of, with years of training in Teras Kasi he didn't need them. The test to become to become a monk was to fight a fully armoed soldier armed with a shortsword and shield. While all you had was a padded cheast plate and loin cloth. He had beat his opponent in a minute and a half. He had danced in after his opponent had nearly taken off his head then with a powerful stopping punch and mashed the top of fighter's helmet in with had knocked him unconsious immediately.

Lucanus picked up a wooden staff for a polearm, if he disguised his combat style maybe people would suspect him less too. He was famialiar with most melee weapons and proficient in most syles. Lucanus pulled the hood over his head as it started to rain, he headed back to Serraph's house. A short walk later he stepped into the antechamber of Serraph's house. "Hello anyone here?" he shouted up the stairs.

Callista stared at serraph, "you could of knocked" she said quietly looking at him as he walked out, she turned around and slipped the clothes on "he must think im really stupid" she said to herself, pulling at the clothes she had just put on

they were plain, browny-grey dusty and OLD, she grimaced as she looked down at them "well i suppose these will have to do" she let them fall to the side of her, way to big for her, but then she would have room to hide weapons, she looked around the top was way to baggy and if she could find just a lash of the same matireal maybe she could make a plain belt so the clothes wouldn't keep falling down, she snatched a bit of the bed, and tied it quite tightly so the clothes hugged her body more, they still looked scruffy but they would HAVE to do "and he thinks that they will let me in in this gear" she sniggered, after all, she need not sneack around trying to get in to Pelan, her unkle was one of the high-elf's there, but she still had to be carefull, she knew that if the mage found out where she was then he would come for her again, "mind he won't just give up, he will keep coming after me intill i am dead, inless i find a way to kill him first" she said quietly to herself, she threw the lose bit of material in her hand to the side and exited the room "well is that better" she said to serraph, "will i fit in now?" she twirled her face in a small sarcastic smile, "well if i am to fit in with the public, i will need some new weapons, because going out with a pure silver bow is a sure sign of royalty of person of high status right" she twirled the bottom of her torn rags and smiled sweetly, "im not all sugar and spice and everything nice you know" she said looking back as she walked down the stairs "AND I AM NOT STUPID" she called up the stairs, pulling the belt tighter she turned bumping head first into Lucanus "sorry," she said smiling sweetly "i don't know what he is doing up there but i have to go and buy some more weapons because mine would stick out a bit to much" she smiled again "you can come if you want, but i think he wanted to see you or something i don't know" and with that she left.

OOC: sorry i was on a mates name so don't worry about the name its is Callista Miala moonshade typing just not under my name lol, sorry again

OOC: Callista I gave you a clothes description in a PM. I will be using those a lot more so make sure to check those for messages.

IC: So much for ditching the monk. He did not even notice Serraph when he walked inside the building. That was a good thing. That might mean that the monk was not the most adept person at spotting irregularities, and with his gung-ho attitude, that was probably a good thing.

As for Callista, well that was certainly amusing. She had clearly not looked at who she was talking to except maybe with her peripheral vision, because the only thing up there even remotely humanoid was a hat-rack with a coat on it. Serraph had been just outside the house. He could barely contain his laughter as she went about trying to prove to everybody that she was not stupid, only to have her conversation with a hat-rack. As she walked out of the house he spoke.

"Bout time you came around to my way of thinking" he said as she walked out the door. "but we have to get moving. My diversion will only last so long, and i don't want to bump into you're little friend again. So how about you take some of this face paint, and put it on your bow, and then unstring it so that it looks like a walking stick."

"Do it quickly though, we really must be going."

He figured that he would let the whole hat-rack thing go. If he made her feel even more insecure, then she would only try even harder to prove her worth, and only make even more stupid mistakes in the process. He could not have that.

Callista looked stunned "a walking stick? but why?" she picked up her bow and began to paint it with the face paints, she carefully unhooked the strings, and folded them up neatly inserting them into a little pocket she had hidden away, she put it down on the ground "will that do she asked, most of it was covered except for little parts, she looked at her hands and like a little girl, screamed "eughhhhh my hands are dirty" she whiped them down the front of her rags making them look even worse then they already did, she moaned slightly as she walked forward a step or two.

Lucanus followed quietly behind them, and so it was the manipulator, the heroine, and the monk set off on their quest to where they were going. Probaly to die very painfuly and not at all fast by the hand of the mysterious Black Mage.

Lucanus chewed that over for a bit while the paranoid little rat-man got his jollies off of making them look like idiots. If the speck of dirt would look more than two steps in front of his nose maybe he'd realiae what danger there was out there, that probaly threatened every living thing in this world.

Callista looked behind her at the mage and smiled sweetly "you ok back there?" she asked smiling a bit wider, she moved her hair back and tied it up with a black bow into a loose ponytail which went everywhere if she moved it, she stoped for a moment "hey why do we have to start now and how long will it take?" she stared at serraph and awaited his reply.

"It will be a two day journey to Pellan. We will stop off tonight at a little place i know and then be off again come tomarrow morning."

"We are leaving now for two reasons. One, i have set up a diversion in case the black mage is keeping track of us, and that diversion has no doubt worn out. Second, the faster we get to Pelan, the faster you will be safe from the dark mage, the faster i do not have to worry about escorting you to Pelan, and the faster you can read your fairy tales and whatever else you want to do there." said the five foot nine old man as he hobbled along in a quick, but steady gait.

"I believe that it is in everbody's mutual best interests to get to Pelan as quickly as possible."

Callista looked at him and then she felt it to about 12 in total were now above there heads, she pushed past serraph and began to run jumping over fallen branches, and swrving around tree's occasinaly turning to see if the others were following.